March is Women’s History Month. And the National Museum of African American History and Culture is putting a special focus on the stories of remarkable African American women who overcame the twin barriers of racism and sexism to make their mark on our nation’s history.

Three of the notable women we’re celebrating this month are Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, NASA scientists who — as they toiled in relative obscurity and battled discrimination — helped to ensure the safety of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts, and the success of John Glenn’s historic Friendship 7 mission in 1962. Their amazing story is recounted in the hit film Hidden Figures, based on the book of the same name by African American author Margot Lee Shetterly, whose father was also a NASA scientist.

Shortly before Hidden Figures opened in theaters, the producers chose our Museum for a special, private screening of the film. In attendance that evening were Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe — who portrayed Johnson, Vaughn and Jackson, respectively — in addition to costar Kevin Costner, director Ted Melfi and musical superstar Pharrell Williams, who produced the movie. The event also featured remarks from former NASA Administrator Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., as well as the unveiling of a portrait of Katherine Johnson by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz. That portrait is now part of the Museum’s collection.

With the opening of Museum, trailblazing African American women like Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson are finally receiving the recognition they so richly deserve — inspiring girls and young women everywhere to pursue their dreams. And as a supporter, you can take pride in knowing that you help bring the stories of these African American heroes — and many more — out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

Thank you for helping the National Museum of African American History and Culture elevate the African American experience to its rightful place at the center of our nation’s story!

1981 – In Bangkok, Thailand, four of five Indonesian terrorists were killed after hijacking an airplane on March 28.

1985 – ABC-TV aired the 200th episode of “The Love Boat.”

1986 – 167 people died when a Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727 crashed in Los Angeles.

1987 – HBO (Home Box Office) earned its first Oscar for “Down and Out in America”.

1989 – Canada and France signed a fishing rights pact.

1991 – Albania offered a multi-party election for the first time in 50 years. Incumbent President Ramiz Alia won.

1991 – Iraqi forces recaptured the northern city of Kirkuk from Kurdish guerillas.

1993 – Brandon Lee was killed accidentally while filming a movie.

1994 – “Nature” magazine announced that a complete skull of Australppithecus afarensis had been found in Ethiopia. The finding is of humankind’s earliest ancestor.

1998 – U.N. Security Council imposed arms embargo on Yugoslavia.

1998 – Buddy Hackett received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1998 – For the first time in U.S. history the federal government’s detailed financial statement was released. This occurred under the Clinton administration.

1999 – Three U.S. soldiers were captured by Yugoslav soldiers three miles from the Yugoslav border in Macedonia.

1999 – Fabio was hit in the face by a bird during a promotional ride of a new roller coaster at the Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, VA. Fabio received a one-inch cut across his nose.

2000 – In Uganda, officials set the number of deaths linked to a doomsday religious cult, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments, at more than 900. In Kanungu, a March 17 fire at the cult’s church killed more than 530 and authorities subsequently found mass graves at various sites linked to the cult.

The concept of separating church and state is often credited to the writings of EnglishJohn Locke.[1]philosopher According to his principle of the social contract, Locke argued that the government lacked authority in the realm of individual conscience, as this was something rational people could not cede to the government for it or others to control. For Locke, this created a natural right in the liberty of conscience, which he argued must therefore remain protected from any government authority. These views on religious tolerance and the importance of individual conscience, along with his social contract, became particularly influential in the American colonies and the drafting of the United States Constitution.[21]Thomas Jefferson stated: “Bacon, Locke and Newton..I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the physical and moral sciences”[22][23] Indeed such was Locke’s influence,

The concept was implicit in the flight of Roger Williams from religious oppression in Massachusetts to found what became Rhode Island on the principle of state neutrality in matters of faith.[24][25]

The concept has since been adopted in a number of countries, to varying degrees depending on the applicable legal structures and prevalent views toward the proper role of religion in society. A similar principle of laïcité has been applied in France and Turkey, while some socially secularized countries such as Norway have maintained constitutional recognition of an official state religion. The concept parallels various other international social and political ideas, including secularism, disestablishment, religious liberty, and religious pluralism.

Thanks to the women in this room and people all across the country, we worked really hard — and it’s now been more than three years since Congress passed the Affordable Care Act and I signed it into law. It’s been nearly a year since the Supreme Court upheld the law under the Constitution. And, by the way, six months ago, the American people went to the polls and decided to keep going in this direction. So the law is here to stay.

I’ll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again by holding the responsible parties accountable, by putting in place new checks and new safeguards, and going forward, by making sure that the law is applied as it should be — in a fair and impartial way.

They exemplified the very idea of citizenship — that with our God-given rights come responsibilities and obligations to ourselves and to others. They embodied that idea. That’s the way they died. That’s how we must remember them. And that’s how we must live.